One of the most enjoyable animated films of the past few years was Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s very funny Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and so I was very happy to hear that Sony was moving forward with a sequel.  Lord and Miller remain onboard as producers for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, but Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn take the helm as directors this time around.  At the film’s Comic-Con panel in Hall H today, Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and Terry Crews showed up alongside Cameron and Pearn to talk about the follow-up, the numerous “foodimals,” and more.  Hit the jump for my full recap of the Comic-Con panel for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

The panel began with a really funny pre-taped video that had the film’s cast members trying on their character costumes in order to drive down to Comic-Con.  Bill Hader couldn’t remember his character’s voice, Anna Faris had some pretty gnarly goofy glasses, Terry Crews had trouble fitting into his very tiny cop uniform, Will Forte wasn’t happy with his orange vest, and Kristen Schaal discovered that she had been provided with a Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius outfit, so she proceeded to litter the rest of the video with some great Apes references.

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Regarding how they came to direct the film, Cameron and Pearn were story artists on the first film, and when the studio got interested in the prospect of making the sequel, Lord and Miller were busy with 21 Jump Street so they asked Cameron and Pearn to direct.

What was it like for Bill Hader and Anna Faris to return and voice the characters?

  • Hader said it felt like he’s been doing the voice forever because he was filming the voice work for the first film for a long time.
  • Faris said there’s a misconception that doing voice work is an easy job, but she said it requires a different skill set because you have to be walked through everything by the directors since you don’t know what’s happening in the scene.  She also said your voice is shot after four hours of recording.

How did Crews feel about replacing Mr. T as the voice of Earl?

  • Crews said that Mr. T is an icon and he enjoyed the first film a lot, so he got really excited when Sony asked him to come in and audition for Mr. T’s role.  “The way I look at it you got your George Clooney Batman, you got your Val Kilmer Batman; I’m gonna do my Terry Crews Earl.”

Talk about the film’s story and new characters:

  • Cameron and Pearn said that Cloudy 2 begins literally 60 seconds after the first film ends, as Flint and everyone are still celebrating their victory over the FLDSMDFR.
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    The characters then evacuate the island of Swallow Falls to San Jose, California where Flint goes to work for a character named Chester V, voiced by Will Forte.
  • Chester V is “a little bit of Richard Branson, a little bit of Steve Jobs,” and his motto is he wants to make the world a better place with science.
  • It’s revealed that Flint was inspired by Barb, voiced by Kristen Schaal, to create Steve.
  • Barb is “an orangutan with a human brain in her ape brain.” Unlike Steve, she can actually talk with her mouth.

We were then shown a clip where Flint first arrives at Live Corps. where he is escorted around by Barb.  Live Corps has caffeine stations every 15 feet, and employees also use caffeine patches on their face.  Flint’s time at Live Corps is short-lived, though, because Chester V discovers that their hometown is being overrun by “foodimals,” which are learning to swim and may attack Lady Liberty.  Flint then goes to “get the band back together,” as he rounds up the old gang to head back to Swallow Falls.

The Foodimals

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    Hader said during the recording process it was tough for him to envision some of the foodimals, but once he saw the footage of them in action he was blown away.
  • Crews said the weirdness of the animals reminded him of a David Cronenberg movie, to which Hader added, “It’s like Dead Ringers, for kids!”
  • Pearn went to the grocery store and bought food in order to experiment with making different characters out of fruit and vegetables.
  • Cameron does the voice of Berry the Strawberry in the film.
  • One of the rules in the first film was that the food always had to be delicious.  They stuck with this rule for the sequel where the food is now alive, but also scrumptious.

Closing thoughts:

The goofy humor of the first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs looks to remain intact in the sequel, which is not only filled with glorious, glorious puns, but also great-looking character designs for the foodimals and new characters.  I don’t see how Cloudy 2 isn’t just a ton of fun, but we’ll find out for sure when the film hits theaters in a couple of months.

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